Families turned out for a dose of nostalgia this weekend in the form of yet another reboot of The Addams Family, which earned just over $30 million in its opening frame for a second place finish at the box office.
Weekend audiences gave the film a B+ on CinemaScore, with women representing 59% of the opening weekend crowd. 48% of the overall audience was also under the age of 17, which is no surprise for an animated film. The film fared much worse with critics, who gave the film an aggregate score of 44% on Rotten Tomatoes. Top critics polled like the film even less, only accounting for a score of 27%. In both cases, the sample size was low for a film with this wide of a release, with only 63 reviews recorded. The film will have added competition next week from Disney’s Maleficent: Mistress of Evil so The Addams Family should see a sharp decline (60% or more). The Halloween season may help the film in coming weeks if the kooky family can endure the assault of the popular witch from Sleeping Beauty.
In what should have come as a surprise to no one, Joker once again took the top spot this weekend, with an estimated$55 million. What is more surprising is the fact that Joker only dipped 43% in its second weekend, giving Warner Brothers the type of decline that other studios dream about. Joker’s domestic total reached $192.7 million after just ten days of release, and the clown prince of crime has also generated over $543 million globally, quite a feat for an R-rated film filled with mature content and adult themes.
In less exciting news for the movie industry, Paramount’s big budget ($138 million) sci-fi tale, Gemini Man, stalled at the box office with only an estimated $20.5 million this weekend. Gemini Man (which stars Will Smith as two versions of himself and was directed by Ang Lee) had a hard time “duplicating” the success of Smith’s other projects, and faces an uphill battle at the box office. Gemini Man is beginning to open in international markets, but the returns overseas have been equally concerning, accounting for only $39 million to date. At this rate, Gemini Man will be lucky to make back production costs, with no accounting for ad budgets or other promotional costs.
Universal’s Yeti-led animated feature Abominable finished in fourth place with an estimated $6 million this weekend, as the cryptid entered its third week of release. With a domestic total of $47.9 million and an additional $60.1 million from overseas markets, Abominable has performed well with a very high 81% score on Rotten Tomatoes (and a sky high 96% audience score). The snowy white ape should begin to disappear from theaters next week, so if you have been waiting to see this one, get to the theater pronto.
Along with the aforementioned Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, Sony’s Zombieland 2: Double Tap will also open in theaters around the country, hoping to put a dent in Joker’s stranglehold on the box office. Check back next week for the final verdict, right here at Horror News Network.
